‘I am very much looking forward to our happy day,’ Goodwin said, graciously bowing his head at Bethel.
Bethel’s bow-shaped lips pulled up at the sides at Goodwin’s words, but her eyes remained rigid.
‘Please join us,’ said King Hared with a charming smile.
I climbed the dais, now able to see the man the king had been speaking to before we approached.Black robes cloaked his massive bearlike frame and obscured his face.
Something wasn’t right.My heart raced, and the Darkness stirred within me.I stumbled on the step as the robed man turned his face towards us.The king’s firm hand came around my waist, keeping me from falling.
Over the king’s shoulder, familiar ice-blue eyes locked onto mine.
My mother’s killer was here in Capita, and he was sitting at the king’s table.
CHAPTER 28
‘Don’t.You will get everyone killed,’ Torgrin’s voice murmured in my ear.
I don’t know where he had come from, but he was directly behind me.King Hared dropped his hand from my waist and narrowed his eyes.Had he heard Torgrin?I held my breath, trapped between the two men.
‘Who are you?’the king demanded sharply.
Torgrin stepped back and bowed.‘I’m Captain Torgrin, Your Majesty.I escorted Lady Bethel here.My men and I will accompany her until Lord Warwick arrives.’
‘Is that right?’King Hared’s eyes narrowed as he weighed Torgrin’s words.
Torgrin’s tone was no more self-assured than usual, but the king – who was once a general – would hear the command in it as I did.I should say something to get the king’s attention away from Torgrin before we ruined everything, but I couldn’t find my tongue.All of my focus was on holding back the Darkness wanting to destroy Merrick where he sat.
‘Caris, come here!’came Bethel’s annoyed voice.‘Come sit, you clumsy oaf,’ she added.For once, I was thankful for Bethel’s unpleasant manner.She might have just averted a catastrophe.
The king moved his attention from Torgrin and held out a hand to me.I stared at it, not sure what I was supposed to do.Unintentionally, I had garnered the king’s attention, and everyone was now watching to see what I would do about it.
‘Thank you, Your Majesty,’ I murmured shakily, placing my hand in his and letting him lead me to my chair.I kept my gaze down, terrified I would lose control and do something I would regret.
I sat next to Bethel and kept my eyes on the plate before me as I tried to control the emotions engulfing me.Four seats away was the man who had thrown a sword into my mother’s back as she tried to flee.Those icy blue eyes had haunted my dreams as a child.It wasn’t until I picked up a sword and imagined killing him that the nightmares finally stopped.
I was finally close enough to end him and I could do nothing about it.His robes and position next to King Hared told me he was an essential member of the Order of Men.The weight of the oath I had sworn to Lord Warwick kept me in my chair.I couldn’t risk Bethel’s safety or Cillian’s chance to rescue Queen Yaris.The king believed me to be Lord Warwick’s ward and Bethel’s lady-in-waiting.Reaching into my boot and using my father’s dagger to slit a man’s throat at the king’s table would risk far more than my own life.
Bethel babbled away to Goodwin, who appeared indifferent to his betrothed.I forced myself to raise a fork to my mouth, chew and swallow.I could not say what I ate; the food was ash in my mouth.
Torgrin had taken a seat at a table close by.He watched us while ignoring the noblewoman seated next to him, who was vying for his attention.Torgrin picked up his fork and gave me a tight smile.His eyes warned me to stay in control.
A herald announced that it was time for the dancing to begin.Like an orchestrated group, everyone rose to move into the ballroom.
My head snapped to wherehewas, and I saw his black robes disappear through the exit.I battled with the Darkness urging me to go after him.
The king caught my eye and rose to offer his arm.I had no choice but to take it.I felt Bethel’s eyes boring into the back of my head as she and Goodwin followed the king and me into the ballroom.
Before I realised what was happening, King Hared drew me into the centre of the room just as the minstrels began to play a fast dance melody.
‘I’m a terrible dancer!’I panicked.
‘Really?I doubt that,’ the king murmured, pulling me to him.
The other dancers began a complicated reel, but he held me and swayed.I looked up at the king.It was a foreign feeling, and I didn’t like him towering over me.
‘Tell me about yourself, Lady Caris.’
‘There’s not much more to tell beyond what Lady Bethel has already said.I’m not very interesting,’ I said, feeling that the less I said, the better.
